Mashava taps dry for a week

A HEALTH hazard is looming in the mining town of Mashava after over 700 residents, largely comprising of former mine workers and artisanal miners from Bere township, have gone for a week without running water.

BY TATENDA CHITAGU

The residents, who have been out of employment after the mine closed after being grabbed by government from Mutumwa Mawere, had resorted to unprotected water sources from a disused mine shaft for drinking water, leaving them at the risk of waterborne diseases.

“The situation has been so bad here that schoolchildren have stopped going to classes for fear of cholera. We have resorted to using bush toilets. Imagine a whole week with no water? This is a sad reminder of the closure of the mine where we used to have better days,” a resident said.

The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) said the water problems were due to a damaged pipeline that supplies water to the town, about 40km out of Masvingo city.In a statement yesterday, ZINWA spokesperson Marjory Munyonga said water supplies had been restored to the mining town.

“The service disruption was a result of the damage on the main pipeline which transmits water from the treatment plant to the reservoirs. The pipeline got damaged when a local telecommunications company hit it while doing some work in Mashava. Zinwa wishes to thank the residents of Mashava for their patience during the period,” she said.